This is a class blog run by Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru and her students in the course "Telenovelas, Culture & Society" at the University of Georgia during Fall 2015

Thursday, September 3, 2015

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

The screen is black, the faded bright blue
words read ”A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." a
quick pause and then all of a sudden a screaming set of trumpets blare the
beginning cords of the opening crawl of Star Wars.

Born from a Colombian Chinese family, I
have been granted a responsibility-not so much a responsibility but the honor-
to be prideful of my heritage. I identify as Colombian though I have never set
foot on the cobble stone roads my mom walked to get to school nor have I felt
the salty breeze of my dad’s hometown market. My parents, as immigrants to the
states, have completely immersed themselves to American culture. Sometimes, I
feel like my dad’s southern accent has destroyed his free-flowing fluid and
beautiful Spanish vocabulary when I haven’t heard him talk about his days back
in Cali.

I
have always grown up learning about American culture through movies, TV shows,
and series. While my great grandmother, Mami Angelina, would watch Betty la
Fea; I spent my younger years watching The Sound of Music, Full House, and The
Cosby Show. Though the Spanish language was the first to come out of my lips, I
still felt pressure at school to acculturate and I soon learned when not to
roll my "r"s and what the meaning of "y'all" meant; though,
I can proudly say that my love for cumbia, salsa, and merengue have not left my
bones.

Some people believe that certain memories
have been instilled forever, tattooed, or embedded into their mind for constant
retrieval and constant reminder of the joy or the lesson that those memories
provide. I push this theory to the next step when I say I believe some of these
lessons and memories can serve as poignant spots in the maturation of someone’s
perspective. In my past experience, telenovelas and movies have been the
perfect way to absorb memories, lessons, and stories that have taught me
lessons and given me memories that I’ve grown up from.

Because I grew up with all boys, my
connection to telenovelas has been soley through my great grandmother and Betty
la Fea. My emotional connection has been stronger to The Amazing Spiderman,
Superman, Batman, X-Men, and in particular, Star
Wars. Those were the "telenovelas" I grew up to. Those were the
stories that I identified my fears, my insecurities, and my progression as a
young bystander in life. I identified with Luke, Peter, and Bruce in their
fears and their progression as they matured in their families and in society.
Sure, of course I wanted to be Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson. But I saw myself
as more of a leader- like Queen Amidala- the one who got to use a gun and fight
for herself and those who were dear to her.

I am excited to absorb memories and
lessons- though some of them may be traumas and hard to process- I know I will
be able to journey further in my path to develop as who I am as a person. Looking
at all the different character developments that telenovelas offer- though they
may be tied by a single love story- I know I will be able to be impressed upon
by my heritage’s values and lessons they have for a work-in-progress like me.